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Technology & Software Guidefor New Students of the

International Masters Programs at Universitt Hohenheim

Basic Office Software*

Word Processing

format paragraph spacing, tabs, columns, page sizes, margins and other layout options

set appropriate font types and sizes

use the track changes feature for editing and revision properly import images, graphs or vectors from other software

use bullets and numbered lists, format footnotes and references lists

convert word processing documents to PDF and other le formats

Youmustbe able to...

Presentation Software

prepare a professional slide presentation (not only relying on pre-formatted layouts)

understand basic design elements and the balance of text and graphics on a single slide

edit your own presentation for consistency in font type, size and precise layout

import images from the internet and graphs from other software imbed videos into the presentation

save the presentation as a PDF or other les formats

Youmustbe able to...

Spreadsheet Software

organize and compute equations, such as the

Penman-Monteith formula for potential evapotranspiration:

import data from other software

create and format (size, color, etc.) various types of graphs and tables from raw data properly export your graphs and tables to other software (such as presentation or word

processing software)

save the graphs and tables as a PDF or other les formats

Youmustbe able to...

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Congratulations on your acceptance to Universitt Hohenheim!

This document was written by members of the International Student Representatives to provide an

overview of the technological and software competencies you will need to successfully complete your

masters program.The following two pages list software (e.g. basic office software) commonly used in class and briey

describes what should you know before you arrive in Germany. Please go through it carefully to check and

refresh your own skills. If you are unfamiliar with the software listed, you will quickly fall behind in your

classes.

Classes at Hohenheim involve a large amount of mandatory group work that requires the knowledge

listed in this document. The inability to use the software or correctly cite sources will signicantly limit your

participation in the group, which automatically leaves more work for your group members to complete.

This is not fair to your classmates, nor you, because you wont learn as much.

Hohenheim does offer supplemental workshops for some software packages, scientic writing,

presentation skills and even thesis work. But we encourage students to arrive at Hohenheim with thecompentencies listed below.

Introduction

*to learn these skills, there are countless free tutorials available online.

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In addition to basic office software, each of the international programs has specialized software that every

masters student must learn to use. A few examples include:

Modeling (e.g. Berkeley Madonna) and mapping (e.g.ArcGIS) software for EnviroFood students

Statistical (e.g. Stata) and modeling (e.g.GAMS) software for Agricultural Economics students

Statistical (e.g. R) and analytical (e.g. SAS)software for Crop Sciences students

Students are notexpected to learn these specic software programs before coming to Hohenheim

(however, background knowledge in statistics is required for all students). If you fall behind during themodule, it isyour responsibilityto catch up to the rest of the class on your own time (outside of class).Each

software package includes self-guided tutorials and extensive information explaining the use of the

software. The inability to properly use this software will negatively affect students grades.

Other Software

Universitt Hohenheim has a no-tolerance plagiarism policy. Written assignments and presentations that

do notproperlylist sources of outside information, photographs, tables or graphs will result in a failed

grade.

There are many different standard methods of source citation (APA, MLA, etc.) both within text and in the

bibliography. Generally professors do not care which format you use, but you must be consistent

throughout the document or presentation.

You also must be able to identify what is a good source (scientic, peer-reviewed) and what is a bad

source, even when choosing graphics or images for a presentation.

Source Citation

Created Winter Semester 2013/2014

Perhaps the most important lesson you will learn at Hohenheim is how to learn and work independently.

Before approaching your fellow classmates or professors with a question or problem, you must rst try to

answer or solve it alone. If you experience difficulty with task - dont give up! Of course professors and

tutors are available when necessary, but students are expected to try several methods of solving their own

problems before seeking help.

For example, if you have never used the pivot tables feature in spreadsheet software, you should type

how to use pivot tables into the google search bar. You should then read the tutorials and watch the

youtube videos, following the step-by-step instructions.

If you have never before designed a scientic poster, you should type the following queries into the

internet search bar: How to design a scientic poster, Proper font sizes for scientic posters

and How to import graphs from a spreadsheet to a presentation, etc.

Seeking Help

Please take this guidance seriously! Experience from past years has shown that students who lack

these skills struggle in class and may not complete their degrees.

Despite our diverse backgrounds and varied experiences, we come to Hohenheim to obtain the same

masters degrees.You mustbe able to perform the academic level expected of all Hohenheim students,because everyone is given the same workload and graded equally.

Welcome to Germany, and best of luck during your rst year!

~Your Student Representatives, studentsrep2013@yahoo.com

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